its sunday, 4:30pm in the philippine time zone, whatever its called.

today was a fun day, except for what happened right before we hit up this internet cafe. after we woke up (we wake up damn early here -- 6/7am) and went to church, all the fam hopped on a boat (not a catamaran or the modern american boats, but the native filipino-style boats). we went around the coast of batangas, looking at all the cool resorts.

we made a pit stop at sombrero island. it was the only real beach around here, the rest are full of rocks or dark sand and trash. we swam in the clear, blue water and enjoyed the break from the heat. even my aunts took a dip, not even caring that they weren't wearing their swimsuits, but just swimming in their clothes. anyway, we dry off so quickly it doesn't even matter.

on our way back, we stopped for lunch at a the vista mar resort. its fathers day (happy fathers to all the dads out there) so the grandkids were going to treat their dads. in the maddness of taking care of the check, one of my cousins mistakenly said something offensive to one of my aunts. when we got back to the boat, a huge fight broke out about money. i don't even want to get into details, but the amount was ridiculously small. lunch for about 15 people didn't cost more than $150 and everything is so cheap that nothing costs very much. (ie. an hour of internet = 20 pesos or less than 50 cents) anyway, it ended the day on a sour note.

too much buenviaje family fun time together. it was bound to break some time. it only makes sense that its revolving around money since that seems to be where all the family feuds break out. it makes me sick that its always about money. who cares, you make money to enjoy stuff, not to fight about it. that's one buenviaje trait i'm doing my best to avoid adapting, even though i know at times i do.

anyway, just a frustrated tidbit i had to share. tomorrow is manila. finally get to stay in some luxury accomodations and eat some non-fly infested food. i look forward to it. tuesday i'm out of here and back to reality.

overall, this trip was fun. the circumstances, of course, were not but the fact that it brought us together made it so memorable. we've never had a trip like this ever before and who knows when we will again. i worry about my lolo and leaving him behind as we all slowly leave. i hope he will be ok.

so this is my last lengthy blog from the PI. this trip was a lot better than my first trip to the PI. a great learning experience about my family and its history. and now i got a tan. haha. see you all soon...